Tiger Woods, who has played just one tournament in 17 months as he recovered from two surgeries to his back in the fall of 2015, makes his return to the PGA Tour starting Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open at his beloved Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.

It will be the first of four events in five weeks, a schedule that also includes a trip to the Middle East for the Dubai Desert Classic the week after the Farmers — a flight involving 12 time zones — then back-to-back playing dates in the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles and the Honda Classic in Florida. The heavy assignment will severely test Woods’ game, his endurance and, he knows, his back.

So, here's what we know in the ever-evolving drama of As the Tiger (Can't Make Full) Turns:

Tiger Woods has a lingering back injury that is preventing him from playing the Genesis Open this week. As tournament host for the first time, he is on-site here at Riviera Country Club. His pretournament news conference, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was moved to Wednesday, then canceled altogether. The explanation given is that Woods has been "advised by doctors to limit all activities."

Tiger Woods announced Friday that he will not play the Masters next week as he continues to recover from back issues, the third time in four years that he won't compete in the year's first major championship.

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, told ESPN on Friday night that Woods was cleared by his doctors and therapists to play and that the back spasms that sidelined him in February and plagued him for a few weeks had subsided.